Man charged with impeding marathon bombing probe

Television reporters stand outside an apartment building where Khairullozhon Matanov, 23, was arrested shortly after 5 a.m., Friday, May 30, 2014, in Quincy, Mass. Matanov, a friend of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing suspectss, faces federal charges he destroyed, altered and falsified records, and made false statements to obstruct the investigation into the bombings. Matanov is a legal resident of the U.S. originally from Kyrgyzstan. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

In this courtroom sketch, Khairullozhon Matanov, second from left, with attorney Paul Glickman, left, appears in federal court before Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler, right, Friday, May 30, 2014, in Boston. Matanov, a friend of the brothers suspected of carrying out the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, faces federal charges he destroyed, altered and falsified records, and made false statements to obstruct the investigation into the bombings. Matanov, arrested Friday morning at his apartment in Quincy, Mass., is a legal resident of the U.S. originally from Kyrgyzstan. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins)

A friend of the brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon was accused yesterday of obstructing the investigation into the deadly attack by deleting information from his computer and lying to investigators.

The friend, Khairullozhon Matanov, 23, of Quincy was arrested at his apartment. He later appeared in federal court, but entered no plea and was being held until a detention hearing Wednesday.

Matanov, a legal resident of the United States originally from Kyrgyzstan, deleted references to videos and photos of the bombing suspects released by the FBI, a photo of the MIT police officer who authorities say the bombing suspects killed days after the attack and files that contained violent content or calls to violence, an indictment alleges.

Matanov is not charged with participating in the bombings or knowing about them in advance, U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement, but a spokeswoman declined to comment when asked whether additional charges were possible against him.

Matanov knew Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who authorities say planted two homemade bombs that killed three people and wounded more than 260 at the marathon finish line last year. Matanov realized the FBI would want to talk with him because he shared their “philosophical justification for violence,” federal prosecutors said.

His lawyer, Edward Hayden, called the allegations unsubstantiated and said his client looked forward to contesting the charges.

“He had no intent to mislead the FBI, and from what I can see, what he said and did didn’t impede the investigation,” Hayden said.

Matanov and Tamerlan Tsarnaev discussed religion together and hiked up a mountain in New Hampshire in order to praise and emulate the training of the mujahedeen, the indictment said.

Just 40 minutes after the bombs exploded, Matanov called Tamerlan and invited him to dinner, prosecutors said, and that night, the Tsarnaev brothers dined with Matanov at a restaurant.

Afterward, prosecutors said, Matanov told an unnamed witness that he could support the bombings for a “just reason” – for example, if they were done in the name of Islam.

“In the days following the bombings, Matanov continued to express support for the bombings, although later that week he said that maybe the bombings were wrong,” the indictment said.

Hayden said Matanov came to the U.S. in 2010 on a student visa and attended college briefly and was later granted political asylum because of unrest in Kyrgyzstan. He said Matanov, who works as a cab driver, left his parents and brothers behind and had no family in the U.S.

“He’s very frightened – very frightened,” Hayden said, adding that Matanov spoke with investigators several times but never tried to slip away and was surprised when authorities arrived yesterday to arrest him.

Prosecutors said Matanov asked a friend to destroy his cellphones after the Tsarnaevs were identified as suspects, but that friend refused.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, has pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges and is awaiting trial. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed during a gunbattle with police days after the bombings.